I have the Yakima Rail Grab for another car that I test fit to the X1 and it works fine. The newer aero bars will be quieter than the old round or square bars, especially since it's hard to run a fairing on the X1 with a sunroof.

The OE BMW stuff is made by Thule though, and many accessories will fit either. I just have more stuff that works with Yak round bars, so stick with it.

Can someone confirm for certain that the Yakima Railgrab will work with the X1 roof rails? Based on Yakima's online fit guide, it does not indicate that it will fit.

I notice they also don't list a fitment for the X3. I mounted it on ours, with the small clips and it fit perfectly. I actually don't find much noise on my daily driver with round bars and a fairing, but the Whispbars are supposed to be quieter (for double the money, they should be).

Our Fit Team is assessing your vehicle. Generally, this means that we will have a fit for your vehicle in the near future. When completed, we will list the Yakima rack configuration(s) that work best. (If we should find that there is no way to fit your vehicle, we will change the vehicle to a "No Fit" status.)

Please visit www.yakima.com and click on "Fit My Car" and enter your vehicle's make model and year. There, you can sign up to receive an automatic notification when a fit is available. You can also check back periodically to see if fit information for your vehicle has become available. Once we have a fit, our website will immediately reflect that information.

Please be patient, there are a lot of vehicles out there for our fit team to check out. I have logged that you would like a rack for this vehicle which helps our Fit Team know that there is a demand for it.

Ha, I dealt with that response for years with my M Coupe. I bought a Thule rack meant for direct attachment to the E46, dremeled the existing channel an inch on each side to allow for the narrower roof and used that rack for years, Yakima and Thule never actually sorted anything out for the E36/8.

No modifications required to get the Grabrail to work on your X1 though? I have 2 kayak attachments for roundbar and want to avoid buying a whole new system.

Correct, it snugged right up. You can feel the channel on the inside of the rails, and the regular Railgrab feet fit that profile perfectly. Provided you keep the crossbars mounted within the area that has the backside cutout, you should be just fine. I suppose if you wanted to be 100% certain of a proper fit, you could get the Thule 460 Podium setup, assuming your kayak setup also works on square bars, as most bike mounts will work on both round and square bars.

They also make a wider one, but even just the regular one will carry a board and a set of skis stacked, with the bindings locked.

ECS has the factory rack for $225, not a bad deal. I assume that's without lock cores, but suspect that since the OE stuff is made by Thule, any lock would work. I've found that Thule, Rocky Mount and Yakima lock cores are interchangeable.

I put our Yakima ski racks on 2 weeks ago and had no issues. I'm using the railgrab mounts with 48" crossbars, fatcat 6 ski rack and 38" fairing. There was wind noise that was noticeable, but didn't overly annoy me. Noise increased with a full rack of skis. There is a minor whistle with just the bars only (and no fairing). We were previously planning to get a cargo box and so we picked up a Skybox 16s last week and with bars and box only, it's pretty darned quiet.

Any chance you could post a photo of the Yakima Railgrab and roundbars on your X1? I am trying to decide between keeping my existing setup (2 hull raiser kayak carriers, and 2 copperhead bike carriers) or going with BMW setup. I believe the hull raiser will only work with round bars. Not sure on the copperheads.

For what it's worth, the Yakima Whispbars are amazing. They are the lowest profile possible (lower than Thule Aero) and are very quiet. With the sunroof cover closed, I cannot hear anything at all. I put them on my e92 about 6 months ago. Note: I actually did the work to painstakingly paint the aluminum pieces flat black and also, blacked out the logo. Well worth it going with the Shadowline trim. They make Whispbars that attach to factory rails too:

With Thule Ascent 1600 (perfect size, wider than most but mid-range length to accomodate coupe/small SUV's; can fit lawnchairs in here)

Guys, sorry if this is too basic and/or deserves another thread. I have an X1-xDrive 2.0d, with Panoramic Sunroof. It has whatever are the standard rails for this model. I've never before fitted a ski rack, but it looks like for my next trip into the alps (I'm resident in France) I can't get away with fitting all the kit inside the car. Probably I need to carry 3 sets of regular skis, plus a snowboard.

Sorry about my ignorance, but
(1) do all racks take the same number of skis, if so, how many?
(2) Snowboard? (or does that have to go inside somehow)
(3) is there any complication with my having the Sunroof?

I see this thread talks about OE or other makes, but I'm not sure what is available in france or what I should be looking out for. I guess I could ask my local general-purpose accessories shop for their advice, or BMW themselves. But if anyone can give my some helpful advice in advance, I'd appreciate it.

(1) do all racks take the same number of skis, if so, how many?
(2) Snowboard? (or does that have to go inside somehow)
(3) is there any complication with my having the Sunroof?

Yes, the number of skis you can fit can vary.

If alpine skis, you have to make sure the bindings won't hit the sunroof. Some racks allow for alpine skis to be attached at an angle, which supposedly helps. The ones I have seen only use half the rack for this, with the rest being usable for Nordic skis or snowboards.

Others require skis to be slapped together, and fastened sideways (in which case the bindings hitting the roof isn't an issue). Make sure the tips point backwards if doing it this way.

I've also seen a rack with extra fasteners for ski poles, but it looked like a clumsy arrangement..

Being a cross country skier myself, I prefer skis to be in a bag, and the bag fastened with straps. That way, I won't damage the glide surface with road dust. I've never had to fit more than 2 pairs, but guess I could fit 4.

Don't overlook the roof box instead of a rack. It's easy to put the skis in, keeps them better and gives you some more room for other gear. Packing for four people in addition to 4 sets of boots, 4 helmets, etc can be a tight squeeze without a box, especially if you are packing for a longer stay.

The lopro is attractive. Not sure how much gear it will hold though. Looks like it would have trouble with a helmet and boots in the photo. The 21 will hold enough to keep the back of the car empty (or pack away).